The fiscal year ended March 31, 2012 saw a recovering trend in the domestic economic conditions due to the demands for reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake. At the same time, however, drastic deterioration of the external environment caused by the continuing record-breaking appreciation of the yen, credit uncertainty in Europe, the flooding in Thailand, etc., have caused vehicle exports to decline, creating a difficult situation.

This fiscal year was the inaugural year of the SKYACTIV era; Mazda introduced the SKYACTIV-G in the new Demio for Japan, and the SKYACTIV-G and the SKYACTIV-DRIVE in the new Axela/Mazda3 for major markets. Mazda has also started to introduce the CX-5, the new crossover SUV equipped with full SKYACTIV technology globally. This fiscal year's global sales volume stood at 1,247,000 vehicles, dropping 2% from the previous fiscal year, while revenue stood at 2,033.1 billion yen, falling 13% from the previous fiscal year due to the effect of the appreciating yen on major currencies as well as a reduction in production and sales. Cost improvement served to increase profit, but the deterioration of sales volume and mix and the persistently strong yen resulted in an operating loss of 38.7 billion yen. The write-off of deferred tax assets, advanced booking of business structural improvement costs, and other factors resulted in a net loss of 107.7 billion yen. On the other hand, the low point during the third quarter took a turn in the fourth quarter when Mazda achieved profitability in all profit levels, such as the 15.6 billion yen in operating profit due to the introduction of the new CX-5 as well as accelerated cost improvement.

It is amidst such circumstances that Mazda announced its Structural Reform Plan in February 2012 to cope with the harsh external environment and to strengthen the Framework for Medium-and Long-term Initiatives aimed at ensuring future growth. At the same time, the exchange rate assumption was adjusted in consideration of the present situation; in coping with the changes in vehicle demand, the medium- and long-term forecasts were reviewed. The forecast for the FY ended March 31, 2016 is 150 billion yen in operating profit, 6% or more return on sales, with a global sales volume of 1.7 million vehicles.

In executing the Structural Reform Plan, Mazda secured funds for growth and fortified its financial base through public share offering and subordinated loan.

The aim is to steadily execute the Structural Reform Plan and to achieve profitability in all profit levels in FY March 2013 and the goal of the medium- and long-term outlook.

The Company's dividend policy is to determine the dividend by taking into account the fiscal year's business results, as well as factors such as the prevailing management environment. Regrettably, the Company elected to suspend the payment of a year-end dividend for this fiscal year, due to the incurring of a current net loss and in consideration of the status of its retained earnings carried forward. Mazda views shareholder returns as one of its top priorities, and aims to resume dividend payments as soon as possible.